Lisa Loring is perhaps best known for playing Wednesday Addams on The Addams Family – the
kooky-spooky comedy series about a clan of odd-balls who lived together in a grim and
ghoulish mansion.
While the series was pretty dark at first glance, in reality, it was rather whimsical
and light-hearted.
The satirical series told the tale of your quintessential mid-20th century American family
with a somewhat macabre twist.
Unlike the noble, upstanding characters that viewers were used to seeing on other sitcoms
on the tube at the time, these folks took delight in all the creepy, crawly things that
go bump in the night.
The show was inspired by a 1938 comic series that ran in The New Yorker and only aired
on ABC for two seasons before it was given the ax.
Regardless of its relatively brief length, audiences fell in love with the Addams Family
and the cast of characters that made the show so memorable., Numerous reboots and spin-offs
have been developed in the years since capitalizing on these beloved roles.
Fans of The Addams Family were especially drawn to the character, Wednesday Addams,
the youngest daughter of the series' parental figures, Gomez and Morticia.
In that original Addams Family television series, the role of the adorably morbid Wednesday
was given to Lisa Loring, who was only five years old when she landed the part.
By the time the series finally premiered, she was still only 6.
Can you imagine what it must be like to become internationally famous for appearing on an
iconic television show at such a young age?
There is no doubt about it, Lisa Loring's life was forever changed when she was cast
in that role.
Today, however, Loring has left the world of Hollywood behind, trading the glitz and
glamour of the spotlight for an entirely new career.
Keep watching to see what Lisa is up to these days and what she looks like at the age of
63.
We've got to say, she has gone through one stunning transformation in the 57 years since
The Addams Family first debuted on network television.
But first, let's take a closer look at how she managed to score that career-defining
role in the first place.
Lisa Loring's Acting Career In A Nutshell
Born on February 16, 1958, in the Marshall Islands on the isle of Kwajalein, a United
Nations Trust Territory overseen by the US, Loring grew up in a military family.
Both of her parents served in the US Navy but divorced not long after she was born.
Loring spent some time living with her mother in Hawaii before relocating to Los Angeles.
At three, Lisa started modeling and appeared in a single episode of the medical series
Dr. Kildare in 1964.
A year later, she was selected to play Wednesday Addams – the role that would prove to be
the biggest of her career.
After playing Wednesday for two years, Loring joined the cast of an ABC sitcom entitled
The Pruitts of Southhampton.
In 1974, tragedy struck when her mother died of alcoholism at the young age of just 34.
Loring was 16 when she died, and undoubtedly this horrific life event left her with quite
a bit of heartache and uncertainty.
After her childhood acting career, Loring managed to secure a role on the CBS soap As
The World Turns.
From 1980 to 1983, she played the character Cricket Montgomery, whom she also helped create.
She would later appear in the slasher flicks Blood Frenzy in 1987 and Iced In 1988.
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Looking Back
Almost six decades later, Loring still looks back on her time on the set of The Addams
Family fondly.
In 2017, she was quoted as saying that the show's cast and crew felt like her real family.
She went on to say that actors John Astin and Carolyn Jones, who respectively played
Gomez and Morticia, were like parents to her.
The closeness of the cast made it a lot easier for her to keep up with everyone else while
on set – especially considering her young age.
While most kids in her age group were playing with dolls and coloring with crayons, she
had to memorize lines even before she learned how to read.
Loring says that she had very little in common with Wednesday, despite the fact that she
would become inseparable from the character in the eyes of the viewing public.
Lisa liked pretty things like pearls and lace, while the character she played onscreen liked
all things dark and gloomy.
Loring Struggled To Find Roles
As we previously touched on, Loring joined the cast of The Pruitts of Southhampton after
The Addams Family wrapped up in 1966.
That series saw her performing alongside stars like Phyllis Diller, Richard Deacon, and Gypsy
Rose Lee, but it never really took off.
After just one season, it was canceled in 1967.
For the next decade or so she couldn't find any work in the industry that seemed to fit
her unique talents.
Eventually, however, Loring managed to land that role in As The World Turns, but that
part too would prove to be relatively short-lived.
In 1977, Loring reprised her role of Wednesday Addams for a television film called Halloween
With the New Addams Family.
It felt good for her to be back with her old TV family a decade after the original series
had come to an end, but that reunion would prove to be a one-off affair.
Loring's Personal Life
At 15, Loring married her childhood sweetheart Farrell Feumberg.
The two walked down the aisle in 1973, and not long later, they welcomed a daughter into
the world.
That marriage, however, wasn't made to last, and a year later, the couple called it quits.
Loring got married for the second time in 1981 when she and actor Doug Stevenson exchanged
vows.
Stevenson was a contract player on another CBS – Proctor & Gamble-sponsored soap, Search
for Tomorrow.
Lisa and Doug had one daughter together before their marriage too ended in 1983.
In the late 80s, Loring worked as a make-up artist and writer in the adult film industry.
In 1987, she married adult film star, Jerry Butler.
The two met on the set of the pornographic film Traci's Big Trick earlier that year.
In the years that followed Loring grew increasingly disturbed by Butler's continued participation
in the adult film industry.
Eventually, he even started performing in pornographic shoots in secret without her
knowledge.
In the early 90s, Butler told Dateline NBC that he was 'addicted to the lifestyle' of
being a porn star and further shared that he felt ashamed by his secretive behavior
and how it had taken a toll on his marriage.
Loring and Butler would later appear on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show to once again discuss
the damaging effects that Butler's porn career had on their relationship.
Loring would eventually file for divorce from Butler in 1992, which happened to be the same
year that he retired from the hardcore porn industry – a decision that he apparently
made by choice.
After almost a decade of being out of the spotlight, Loring married her fourth husband,
Graham Rich in 2003.
Five years later, Rich and Loring separated.
In 2014, it was learned that the estranged couple was in the process of divorcing.
Loring Has Had Several Careers Since Leaving Behind Acting
By the early 90s, Loring's acting career had all but fizzled out.
Around that time, she admitted to struggling with alcohol and substance abuse before checking
herself into a rehab program.
She went on to continue to pursue a Hollywood career, but the roles she was able to find
were minor and few and far between.
In 1995, she told People that she had grown tired of rejection, though she noted that
she was pretty picky about the kinds of roles she was interested in.
As we already covered, in the 80s, Loring had worked as a make-up artist in the adult
film industry.
After struggling unsuccessfully to make a career comeback in Hollywood in the 90s, she
would find work at an interior design firm based out of Santa Monica.
In 2014, Loring appeared in the low-budget comedy horror film Way Down in Chinatown.
She followed that up with an appearance in another B-film, Doctor Spine.
While those two flicks marked the first time she acted since 1992, they were not much more
than novelty cameo roles.
In 2017, she shared that she was focusing on her family life and was making stops around
the country to make appearances at entertainment conventions.
These days, fans are still eager to meet the actress that once played one of the most iconic
characters of the mid-20th century.
Even though she never managed to escape her typecasting as Wednesday Addams, Loring doesn't
mind being known for that role.
If anything, she's grateful that people still know who she is.
Sure, she probably wishes that her acting career had taken a different path, but it's
always preferable to be remembered instead of forgotten.
What are some of your fondest memories of Lisa Loring?
And can you think of anything else she's been in other than the television shows and films
that we just covered?
Let us know in the comments.
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